Following the withdrawal of Honda from the sport in December 2008, Jenson was left without a drive for the 2009 season, until Ross Brawn led a management buyout of the team in February 2009, and Button suddenly found himself in a highly competitive, Mercedes-engined car. He went on to win six of the first seven races of the 2009 season, equalling a record achieved by only two other drivers: Michael Schumacher and Jim Clark. At the Brazilian Grand Prix, he amassed enough points over his rivals to secure the 2009 World Drivers' Championship, while also helping Brawn GP to secure the World Constructors' Championship in its maiden season.
2009 season recap
The season was split into two halves, with the newly-formed Brawn GP dominating the first half of the season with successive wins, partially due to the team's double diffuser design, while the latter half saw an improved showing from Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren as they adapted to the new regulations. Jenson Button was able to capitalise on Brawn's advantage in the early rounds winning six of the first seven races, to give him his first World Championship. Sebastian Vettel and Button's team-mate Rubens Barrichello were his main challengers over the season, winning six races between them to finish in second and third respectively.
Button won the season opening Australian race, with team-mate Rubens Barrichello in second, giving the team a 12 on its début. Red Bull's Vettel had been running in second until he collided with BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica. The accident meant the race finished behind the Safety Car, with Toyota's Jarno Trulli eventually classified third despite McLaren Mercedes false protest he had overtaken Lewis Hamilton illegally. Reigning champion Hamilton was disqualified from the Australian race for lying to the stewards and at the following Malaysian Grand Prix was the centre of attention, with reports he was on the verge of quitting. There was further intrigue away from the race track as the FIA deemed the controversial double diffusers used by Brawn, Williams and Toyota legal. The race was equally dramatic, being stopped because of monsoon-like conditions, meaning only half points were awarded for only the fifth time in F1 history. Button mastered the changing conditions for his second win. The Chinese race also took place in wet conditions, this time Vettel lead team-mate Mark Webber home to the team's first ever win ahead of the two Brawns. A return to dry conditions in the following four races allowed Button to re-assert his authority, winning in Bahrain, Spain, Monaco and Turkey. Button had opened up a 26 point lead on his teammate with Vettel, who crashed out in Monaco and made a mistake while leading in Turkey, a further six points behind.
The British Grand Prix was seen as a turning point, being dominated by Red Bull with Vettel leading home Webber, in dry conditions. Button was not on the podium for the first time this season, finishing sixth. Red Bull also dominated the following German Grand Prix with Webber taking his first pole, and going on to win the race, despite being given a drive through penalty. Ferrari were also showing signs of improvement, Felipe Massa finishing third in what would be his final race of the season. He was hospitalised after being hit on the helmet by a flying spring when he was travelling at 162 mph in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix. The accident overshadowed the race which was won by Lewis Hamilton. Ferrari announced Massa would be replaced by test driver Luca Badoer, after a proposed comeback by seven time World Champion Michael Schumacher was called off due to a neck injuries. Giancarlo Fisichella in-turn replaced the disappointing Badoer after a remarkable second place at Spa for Force India.
The European Grand Prix in Valencia and Belgian Grand Prix provided first wins of the season for Rubens Barrichello and Kimi Räikkönen respectively as Button's title charge was undermined by poor qualifying performances. Brawn briefly returned to form in Italy, with Barrichello leading home the team's fourth 1-2 of the season. With Webber literally crashing out of the title race under the lights in Singapore Grand Prix, Vettel kept his slim hopes of the Drivers Championship alive with a dominant display in the Japanese Grand Prix with Toyota's Trulli gaining what would prove to be Toyota's final podium before their withdrawal at the end of the season.
The Drivers and Constructors Championships were both decided at the penultimate race in Brazil. After a poor wet qualifying session for Button, which saw him start from fourteenth, he fought up to fifth during the race gaving him enough points to clinch the title. The race itself was won by Mark Webber, followed by Robert Kubica to give BMW Sauber their best result of their final season (other than Heidfeld's second place in the rain shortened Malaysian Grand Prix) and his only podium result of the season. Lewis Hamilton completed the top three after starting 17th on the grid, moving him and McLaren above Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari respectively in the Championships. The inaugural Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, taking place at sunset, rounded out the season, with another win for Vettel and Red Bull's fourth 1-2 result of the year, rounding of their strongest season to date.
Key news and info for 2010
New teams
- Campos Meta 1, Spanish-based GP2 team led by former racing driver Adrián Campos, who lodged an entry for his Campos Racing team in conjunction with Meta Image.
- Virgin Racing, headed by F3 owner John Booth and former team owner Nick Wirth was an unknown entrant until the FIA published the 2010 entry list on 12 June 2009. The team was originally entered as Manor Grand Prix prior to Virgin's investment.
- US F1 Team, a group led by designer Ken Anderson and former Williams employee Peter Windsor.
- Lotus F1 Racing, a partnership between the Malaysian government and a consortium of Malaysian entrepreneurs. Mike Gascoyne, whose previous Lotus entry with Litespeed was unsuccessful will be the technical director.
Team changes
- In June 2009, three new teams were selected to join the grid for the 2010 season; US F1 Team, Campos Meta and Manor Grand Prix. Manor Grand Prix later announced they will be competing under the name Virgin Racing, confirming months of speculation that the team would be sponsored by Richard Branson's Virgin Group.
- On 29 July 2009, BMW Sauber announced their withdrawal from Formula One at the end of the 2009 Formula One season, citing a lack of future viability and sustainability for the Formula One program. BMW originally were granted the reserve spot on the grid after a proposed buy out by Qadbak Investments,however on 27 November, the team was sold back to Peter Sauber. The FIA officially accepted the team to the 2010 grid under the name BMW Sauber on 3 December, using Ferrari engines.
- Following the withdrawal of BMW Sauber, the FIA announced their vacant grid position would be filled by Lotus F1 Racing, run by Tony Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne, with backing from the Malaysian government.
- Toyota announced their withdrawal from Formula One on 4 November 2009, due to economic hardship. After announcing they would not sell the team on, their grid slot went to the Sauber team.
- Scuderia Toro Rosso will become an independent constructor for 2010, instead of having their chassis supplied by Red Bull Technologies. This allowed the team to purchase customer chassis, despite the concept being banned, due to the chassis being supplied by a design studio. This rule is being amended in time for 2010, meaning that the season will be the first in which Toro Rosso run their own car, having spent most of 2009 expanding their base of operations in Faenza, Italy to accommodate production facilities.
- On November 16, it was announced that Brawn GP would be renamed Mercedes Grand Prix for the 2010 season onwards, ending speculation that their fifteen-year relationship with McLaren was about to come to an end, with the German manufacturer buying a 75.1% controlling stake in the team. McLaren will purchase Mercedes' 40% stake in the McLaren Group before the 2011 season, but Mercedes will continue to supply McLaren engines and sponsorship until 2015. On December 21, it was further announced that the Mercedes Grand Prix team had signed a sponsorship deal with Petronas, and would be renamed Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team.
- Responding to speculation that they would join BMW and Toyota in withdrawing, Renault initially denied that they would take the opportunity and instead assess their position, with a full announcement expected before the end of 2009. However, on December 4 it was confirmed that Renault had several offers for the team, and on December 16 the sale was confirmed. The team was purchased by Luxembourg-based investment banker Gerard Lopez and his Genii Capital investment company. Under the terms of the deal, Renault will retain a 25% minority holding, while the team will continue to race under the Renault name. The deal leaves open the possibility for Renault to regain complete ownership of the team and continue to run it once the global economic situation has stabilised.
Driver changes
- Giancarlo Fisichella will become Ferrari's reserve and test driver in 2010, having left Force India and joined Ferrari towards the end of 2009 as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa. However, Ferrari announced that Fisichella could be loaned out to another team if he is offered a race seat.
- Fernando Alonso will leave Renault to drive for Ferrari in 2010, replacing Kimi Räikkönen who left the team at the end of the 2009 season. Alonso has signed a three year deal up to the end of 2012, with options for further years.
- Robert Kubica will leave BMW Sauber to drive for Renault in 2010, as a replacement for Alonso.
- Nico Rosberg left Williams at the end of the 2009 season after four years with the team, moving to Mercedes Grand Prix.
- Rubens Barrichello will move from Brawn to Williams.
- Timo Glock officially joined Virgin Racing on 17 November 2009. Glock had previously been signed to Toyota, but the Japanese team had elected not to take up the option on his contract as early as the 2009 Singapore Grand Prix, leaving Glock as a free agent.
- Jenson Button will join Lewis Hamilton at McLaren following the failure to negotiate a contract with Mercedes Grand Prix, which bought out his 2009 team, Brawn GP. This will mean that McLaren have signed the two most-recent World Champions, and will have the sport's first double-champion line-up since Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost, also driving for McLaren, in 1989.
- Jarno Trulli will move from Toyota to Lotus F1 Racing.
- Heikki Kovalainen will be Trulli's team-mate at Lotus F1 Racing, after leaving McLaren.
- Kamui Kobayashi, who made his debut for the now-defunct Toyota team at the end of 2009 covering for the injured Timo Glock, will move to the newly-revived Sauber team.
- Bruno Senna, nephew of three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna, will join Campos Meta in 2010, returning the Senna name to Formula One sixteen years after his uncle's death.
- Nico Hülkenberg, 2009 GP2 Series champion, will make his debut in Formula One with Williams, alongside Barrichello.
- Lucas Di Grassi, who placed third in the 2009 GP2 Series, will partner Timo Glock at Virgin Racing.
Calendar changes
- The British Grand Prix was due to move from Silverstone Circuit to Donington Park in 2010, but on October 23, 2009, the owners of Donington Park admitted that plans to raise £135 million through a bond had failed. After extended negotiations with Bernie Ecclstone, the organisers of the Silverstone circuit came to an agreement that will see the British Grand Prix hosted by the circuit for the next seventeen years, despite Ecclestone's earlier assertions that Siverstone would not be hosting the race again. Work to the circuit for the 2010 British motorcycle Grand Prix means that the British Grand Prix may be run on the circuit's new "Arena" layout. However, Silverstone officials will wait until early in 2010 to make a decision on which circuit configuration the race will run on.
- The Japanese Grand Prix was due to return to Fuji Speedway for 2010, as part of a year-on-year rotation with Suzuka Circuit. However, Fuji's owners Toyota announced that they had abandoned plans for Fuji to hold the race, citing the global recession as the main reason for this. Suzuka will continue to hold the event in 2010 and in 2011.
- The Canadian Grand Prix will return in 2010 after its one-year absence.
- South Korea is to make its first appearance on the F1 calendar under the name Korean Grand Prix with a race being held at the Korean International Circuit in Yeongam on October 17 (subject to the circuit's completion in time).
Rule changes
- Refuelling during the race is to be abolished for the first time since 1993.Despite the resolution over the budget cap and the decision for 2010 to fall back to the 2009 rules, FOTA have expressed interest in a refuelling ban as it represents a way to cut costs.
- Formula One Management will offer financial support to all new teams from next season, in the form of $10m (£6.25m, 6.8m) along with the free transportation of two chassis and 10,000 kg (22,049 lbs) of freight to each race.
- FOTA has agreed to scrap KERS for 2010 due to poor uptake and pressure from FIA to cut costs, although KERS is not banned in the regulations.
- The minimum car weight will be increased from 605 kg to 620 kg (1,334 lbs to 1,367 lbs) to stop taller and heavier drivers being at a disadvantage if KERS is added to their car, which will still be allowed in 2010, despite FOTA's agreement not to use the system.
- The maximum number of cars allowed to take part in a race shall be increased from 24 to 26 cars.
- The qualifying system will change to accommodate the extra cars: 8 cars will drop out of the first qualifying session, 8 from the second and as in 2009, 10 cars will shoot-out for pole in the third session. The third session will now be run in low-fuel configuration due to the refuelling ban.
- Wheel covers which have been used by the teams since 2006 are also set to be banned for 2010.
- The front tyres will be narrowed from 270mm to 245mm to improve the balance of grip between the front and rear.
- During negotiations of a new Concorde Agreement at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, several details emerged of cost-cutting proposals by the teams including:
1)Homologation of front and rear wings.
2)A limit on the number of aerodynamic upgrades permitted over the course of a season.
3)A continuation of the ban on in-season testing introduced for 2009.
4)Restrictions on the number of team personnel who can attend a Grand Prix weekend.
5)Complete closures of team factories over the mid-season summer break.
- A new points system has been ratified for 2010, in response to the increased grid. Since 2003, points had been awarded to the top eight finishers: ten points for first, eight for second, six for third and all the way down to one for eighth place. The 2010 system will see 25 points for first, 20 for second, 15 for third, ten for fourth and then eight, six, five, three, two, and finally one for tenth place.
- The stewarding system will be overhauled for 2010. Rather than having a rotating line-up of stewards, they will now be drawn from a smaller, fixed pool of permanent stewards that will include former drivers. This is an attempt to make the stewarding process more transparent, following recent controversies involving the stewards.
- 2009 saw the teams banned from conducting any testing once the season had commenced. This will be amended for 2010, with stand-in drivers being permitted to complete one day of testing (provided they have not participated in an F1 race in the last two calendar years) at a circuit that is not on the calendar. This was introduced in response to a situation arising whereby rookie drivers such as Jaime Alguersuari and Romain Grosjean were unable to physically drive a Formula One car ahead of Friday practice on their debut.
Sponsorship changes
- ING originally decided to end its involvement with Formula One at the end of the 2009 season, which included title sponsorship of Renault along with the Australian, Hungarian and Belgian Grands Prix. The company cited the global economic crisis as the reason for its decision not to renew its involvement. However, the company decided to terminate the sponsorship with Renault early after Renault was found guilty of having fixed the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix.
- Watch brand TW Steel has been confirmed as the first new sponsor of the Renault F1 Team, as the "Official Timing Partner", in a three-year deal running until 2012.
- RBS will also not renew its sponsorship of Williams beyond the end of 2010. RBS will also cancel its trackside sponsorship as of the start of 2010.
- YouTube founder Chad Hurley has joined US F1 Team as the team's primary investor.
- Virgin Group have bought a 20% stake of Manor Grand Prix and plan to rename the team. This was confirmed in the entry list released on November 30, with the team being renamed Virgin Racing.
- At the 2009 Italian Grand Prix, Banco Santander announced a five-year deal with Ferrari to become the team's "main" sponsor starting in 2010; McLaren later announced that their partnership with Banco Santander had been extended.
- Malaysian oil company Petronas will end its long-running association with BMW Sauber as of 2010, and instead move to Mercedes Grand Prix as title sponsor. The team will be known as Mercedes GP Petronas.
Manufacturer Websites
Calendar
- 1 March 12-14th Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit
- 2 March 26-28th Australian Grand Prix Albert Park, Melbourne
- 3 April 2nd-4th Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit
- 4 April 16-18th Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit
- 5 May 7-9th Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Catalunya
- 6 May 13-16th Monaco Grand Prix Monte-Carlo
- 7 May 28-30th Turkish Grand Prix Istanbul Park
- 8 June 11-13th Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Montreal
- 9 June 25-27th European Grand Prix Valencia Street Circuit
- 10 July 9-11th British Grand Prix Silverstone
- 11 July 23-25th German Grand Prix Hockenheimring
- 12 July 30th-August 1st Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring
- 13 August 27-29th Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps
- 14 September 10-12th Italian Grand Prix Monza
- 15 September 24-26th Singapore Grand Prix Singapore
- 16 October 8-10th Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka
- 17 October 22-24th Korean Grand Prix Jeonnam
- 18 November 5-7th Brazilian Grand Prix Interlagos
- 19 November 12-14th Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Island
Join the NeoGAF fantasy F1 league
I've set up a fantasy F1 league on this site;
http://www.f1racemanager.com/
It would be great if some of you guys could join as well, a season long league contested by members of this thread would be pretty entertaining I reckon.
The private subleague is called NeoGAF, and the password is gaffers.
To join the NeoGAF league, go to the edit profile option, and choose the change subleague option.
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The rules
How does this game work?
You manage a virtual Formula 1 team consisting of two drivers, a chassis, an engine and a fuel supplier. If your team does well in the real Grand Prix events, you score points. Each point earns you additional money that you can use to improve your team. See the table below for the scoring system.
How many points does a driver, chassis, etc. score in this game?
Your two drivers, chassis, engine and fuel supplier score points based on the results of both Qualifying and the Race. Every point you score will get you an extra ten thousand playing money.
What's a Subleague?
That's a special group where friends can compete against each other instead of against the whole world.
There are private and public subleagues. Everybody can join a public subleague. A private subleague is protected with a password and can only be joined by players who know the password. You can make a subleague yourself. You can make it private and let only people you know join, e.g. people from work or school. Or you can make it public and let everybody join.
What are Bonus Questions?
In between Formula 1 weekends we present you with a multiple choice question. You'll have a few days to answer. If your answer is correct, you will receive extra money to improve your team.
What are Bets?
Before each race weekend you can bet on who will reach pole position, who will win the race, who will drop out first, etc. For each correct prediction you will receive 400.000 playing money to improve your team.
Why play with F1RaceManager.com?
F1RaceManager.com has some unique playing options that you won't find in other online F1 management games:
» Clear and very easy to use interface.
» Easy to make (free) changes to your team until 1 hour before qualifying.
» Bonus Questions and Bets (see above).
» Selling fee is based on subleague position. If you make the wrong choices at first, you still have a chance to win.
» Public and Private subleagues (see above).
» Subleague competition with prizes.
Is it free?
Yes, F1RaceManager.com is free. And we don't sell or give away e-mail addresses. Don't worry.
Can I win something?
Yes, you can! There's a Subleague Competition. If your subleague has 6 or more players your subleague plays in the Subleague Competition. The best subleague at the end of the season will win 6 Formula 1 caps. Subleague scores are calculated by adding up the scores of all the players. That number is then divided by the number of players in that subleague.
During the season there will be other surprise prizes as well.
And of course you can organise prizes yourself with your friends.
